Easiest Hike

Monday: We get up and have breakfast. We decide to pack a lunch and go for a little hike. All of us. We drive over to Wal-mart to get T a quick pair of new shoes. His tennis shoes are too small, and we didn’t realize it until then since he has been wearing sandals non-stop.

We start up the hike. T is fascinated with all the rocks and picks them up, one after the other. He finds a big rock with some sparkly parts, his eyes get really big, and he says, “I just discovered gold!” CC gets a little anxious that we are going so slow, despite our requests to him and the others to just go ahead. AJ puts T on his shoulders, but I have to hold back with MJ. She complains most of the way up about how tired she is despite my efforts to distract her with all the sights of the hike. I bribe her with a prize if she can make it to the “top” without being carried by E or AJ. We eat a picnic lunch near a stream probably ¼ to 1/3 of a mile up the trail. The kids have fun dipping their feet in the ice cold mountain stream with dad and uncles, but I pass. AJ then takes the kids back down the trail along with nana and papa and the rest of us hike up a little further. By the time we get to the mountain pasture, it’s just me, K, and papa.

Dinner that night is amazing: CC&Em are in charge and we eat fajitas and a jicama and grapefruit salad, with crème puffs and raspberries drizzled with dark chocolate for dessert. We spend the night playing The Great Dalmuti, one of Em’s favorite games. I don't do too bad, and get to be the dalmuti for a few rounds.